McCrory issues State of Emergency for 66 counties in prep for Matthew

Gov. Pat McCrory issued a State of Emergency for 66 counties in North Carolina Monday as he updated the public on the state's preparation for Hurricane Matthew.

The press conference started at 2 p.m. at the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh.

"Even though this storm is several days out, we still don't know exactly what the storm's track will be," McCrory said. The governor said if Matthew does hit North Carolina, "we want to be prepared."

“While we do not yet know how Hurricane Matthew will impact North Carolina, we do know that we can expect some form of impacts on our state,” he said. “Already, we’ve seen substantial flooding in eastern and central parts of the state from recent rain events, and many areas are already saturated. We are taking this storm seriously, and I encourage residents and visitors do the same.”

The State of Emergency was issued to help the state's farmers and facilitate the movement of any resources that may be needed to respond to the storm. It also waives truck weight, size and hours of service restrictions so that farmers can quickly harvest their crops before the storm hits.

McCrory said we are already seeing issues with crops due to storms over the past couple of weeks. "We don't want to have other crops ruined for the years," McCrory said.

“North Carolina has one of the country’s best response teams,” Public Safety Secretary Frank L. Perry said. “It has been tested repeatedly over the past few weeks, but our colleagues are ready to respond as called. Meanwhile, we urge residents and visitors to recheck your emergency plans, restock your emergency kits, and pay close attention in the coming days to the weather forecast and any instructions from local officials. Also, be sure to keep in touch with your family, friends and neighbors to let them know you’re safe.”

The state’s Emergency Management team last Thursday began coordinating storm preparations with South Carolina, Virginia and officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Today a FEMA incident management team arrived to expedite any federal assets that may be needed to respond to the storm.

Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry also spoke at the conference.

“Hurricane Matthew is a powerful and large hurricane that has the potential to create devastating impacts even if it hits North Carolina with a glancing blow,” said North Carolina Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry. “Our federal, state and local partners are coordinating to ensure our state is adequately prepared for Matthew’s impacts and we urge North Carolinians to prepare at home, too.”